HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One - Windows XP Issues Over Wireless Network

[Wi-Fi-Guy]

Do regular copies from the printer's front panel look OK?  if not, then the printer may have failed.

The simple thing to try is to power cycle the printer (turn it off via the on/off button then unplug the printer, wait 30 seconds and then plug it back in and wait 10 seconds then press the power button).

[lmorse]

This is quite a saga!!

For the past 2+ months I've been working with HP support to resolve a problem of  continuous intermitant disconnection of my wireless printer. I'm disconnected about every 4-5 minutes. About 30-45 seconds later, it reconnects. I can still observe ink levels in the Solution Center, and can occasionally print/scan when the Solution center says disconnected, but this is not always the case. I am using Windows XP on a Dell Inspiron laptop, with a Linksys rounter (located in the same room as the laptop and printer). My Dell desktop (also located in the same room) is experiencing the same problem. Other than a Uniden Cordless phone (5.8GHz), there is no other wireless equipment in the room.

Here's what we've done to resolve this on-going issue:

1. Replaced printer
2. Reinstalled software approximately 6 times, including installing Ver 14
3. Added all the required port exceptions to the router
4. Completed a thorough trouble shooting session (~2 hours) with Cisco (Linksys) and confirmed that the router is working fine (set up a continious ping to the printer for 30 minutes with no reply requiring more than 10ms during which time the printer continued to go off line)
5. Completed a thorough trouble shooting with Symantec (Norton) of the anti-virun and firwall. This included entirely removing the Norton 360 from my laptop, and after which the printer continued to go off line every 4-5 minutes.
6. Changed the fixed printer IP address to one that was far (numerically) from any other IP addresses attaching to the router, and well as troubleshot all available channels (11) on the router ..problem persists

I have been escalated to Level 2 enginnering, and to something called Level 2 Case Management.

I believe I have exhausted all of the HP technical support options, but this problem has become a calling now.

Can anyone help??

[Wi-Fi-Guy]

Have you tried changing the channel of your home network?  If you're on channel 1 or 6, try 11.

[lmorse]

Thanks for replying.

Yes, we tested all channels 1-11. The intermittent disconnects are experienced on all channels.

[LA59]

 Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help me.  I have been using an HPC6380 and it has been brilliant.  It is about 14months old.  I have it connected to my PC via an ethernet cable and wirelessly to my iPad and lap-top.  I have a new Sky wired and wireless router.  I have always had a bit of  problem with the Photosmart Essential software and always get an error message saying "HP Photosmart Essential has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience" but I have learnt to simply drag the error message to the bottom of the screen and ignore it!!

However just recently the printer has been very strange.  It keeps throwing up an error message on the printer screen that says "Turn power off, then on aganin".  I have been through all of the routines on the HP web-site - unplugging and changing the ethernet cable and also deleting and reinstalling the software. When I try to turn the printer off I have to hold down the power button for ages and then press it a second time to get the "shutting down" message.  Last week I noticed that I could not print and when I looked in the printer dialogue box on my PC I noticed the printer had taken itself "off-line" and it has done this about 10 times a day ever since.  Finally today I could not scan from either the printer or the PC.  I read this message list and found out about power recycling(?) and gave this a try which temporarily fixed the scanning problem but it is now back.  Should I just give up and get a new priner - and if so do I dare to get anpother HP all in one photosmart?

This is the first time I have ever posted a message on a message board so I hope I have followed all the relevant protocols - I really would appreciate any help anyone can give.

[PrintDoc]

It does not sound like your printer, or its power supply, is happy.   Turn it off, then unplug the power supply from both the printer and the wall for at least 5 minutes.  This will reset the power supply.

Plug it back in and turn it on.  If that did not fix it, time for a new printer.

Let me know what features you want and how much you want to spend and I will recommend something.

[LA59]

Hello,

wow how cool is this - I got a reply to my post!!!  I have never posted anything before and in such a short while I got a reply!!!

I tried unplugging but when I reconnected it again I had all the same problems.  I was reconciled to the fact that I would probably have to buy a replacement printer so it is comforting that you have confirmed this.  I need a printer that is good with photos - just holiday snaps but I like them to look good.  I need a machine that will print, copy and scan and space is a bit limited so the HP C6380 was the perfect size.  I want to continue to connect my iPad and lap-top wirelessly and blue-tooth would be fun but not essential.  I would not mind paying up to about £200 as long as the machine was robust and did not fail after 14 months!

Millions of thanks for reading this.

[PrintDoc]

Do you need fax capability?  Do you want to copy multi-page documents automatically or is one page on the glass at a time, manually changed, OK?

[LA59]

Hi,

I don't need either fax or multi page copying.

thanks again.

[PrintDoc]

There are several good printers on this page that are less than $100.  It looks like you are in the UK, so hopefully the link will redirect you.

The D110a is new and it has ePrint - where the printer has an email address so you can print to it from virtually anywhere in the world!

The C309g is last year's model and is the cheapest with Bluetooth (at $149).